Glossary: Aspects of a Business

Olive Conner / November 3, 2020

This is our checklist of all the 'stuff' that an organisation might think about. We're updating regularly with anything we come across that looks useful.

Think about how you can deploy techniques from our insight methods glossary to help you with any of these areas

Aspects of brand

Focus: in a noisy world it is crucial to articulate clearly what it is that your product, service or experience offers. The 'Jobs to be Done' framework is currently the best tool to determine this (check out Ryan Garner who is a pro in this method).

Colour scheme: colour communicates in a mysterious way. To decide upon your colour palette, create a mood board. Then combine this with colour theory: there are plenty of books that you can buy that will tell you the meaning of colour.

Typography: the shape of letters communicate on a deep, often subconscious, level level. Typefaces have evolved over the years, and their histories contain memories.

Audience: developing a rich portrait of who you are hoping to engage. How do you connect with them, what platforms do they use, what types of communities, and what emotional, practical and purpose driven motivations are you aligning with?

Manifesto: your punchy, call-to-arms articulation of purpose

Ideology: what are the constellation of ideas in your domain? Are there any specific areas (sustainability/LGBT etc) that are central? What thinkers or books does the organisation use as navigational tools

Lexicon: what are the keywords to include and the ones to avoid?

Voice: what type of voice, or voices, do you use to communicate? Casual, serious, fun etc?

Characteristics: start to imagine the personality: are you confident, caring, competitive? Do you take risks? What is your sense of humour? What food might you eat at a restaurant? Who are your heroes, favourite comedians etc?

Channels: what social media platforms or types of advertising space are you going to be active on? Why?

Business model

The business model canvas diagrams the key things that you need to consider when thinking through an enterprise. The sections are:

Activities: what do you need to do to deliver value?
Resources: what human/financial/cognitive assets do you need to operate?
Partners: who is in your ecosystem, such as suppliers and supporters?
Value: what is it that you offer customers (see next section on types of value)?
Customers: who pays for your product/service/experience?
Channels: how do you communicate and conduct transactions?
Relationships: how do you get customers, keep them and then get more?
Costs: what do you have to pay for?
Revenue: what are your sources of income?

Types of Value

Central to commerce is the idea of providing value. This comes in many forms, some are outlined below:

Economic: saving or making people money
Social: opportunities to connect with others
Hedonic: sensorial experiences connected with pleasure
Altruistic: helping the wellbeing of others
Civic: fulfilling duties as a citizen
Efficiency: optimising and saving time
Craft: sophisticated methods of production
Status: enhancing someone's standing
Esteem: creating a sense of respect and admiration
Ludic: providing playful experiences
Ethical: aligning with a code of conduct
Aesthetic: conveying artistic authenticity
Spiritual: touching people deep within

Developing a campaign

When creating a specific campaign, it is important to understand what the aim is:

Generate social media buzz
Increase awareness
Increase brand equity
Generate web traffic
Create PR value
Encourage participation
Sell something
Change an attitude
Change a behaviour

Crafting communication

The following tips can help guide you whilst you write content by focusing on the effects that you hope to achieve:

Resonate deeply so that an emotive and purpose-driven chord is struck

Give people a sense of feeling empowered

Inspire people to be brave and act differently

Strike the right balance between relaxed and urgency

Be in control of the underlying message

Use language with lots of verbs to create a sense of movement

Create a sense that someone is embarking on a journey

Align with currents of meaningful purpose

Sound like a relatable human being

Ensure that you are sharing a practical and relevant message

Less is more, so be simple, clear and concise

Outline clear commitments

Communicate in a way that is inclusive

Ways to innovate

Below are some trajectories that can help create an innovative organisation:

Partner with either emerging start-ups, large companies, individual creators, or progressive causes
Develop a formal process of NPD (new product development) or R&D (research and development)
Empower small groups of individuals within the organisation
Outsource to outside firms that specialise
Begin a program of thought leadership
Look at companies outside your sector and port over their forms and ways of working
Create co-creation and crowdsourcing projects
Generate a sense of rivalry between internal teams